| | I have no idea why I titled this entry as I did, but it popped in my head, so onto the page it went. Ta-da! Magical.
Spent last weekend in Amsterdam, although considering I arrived there on Saturday and departed by the skin of my teeth on Sunday, it shouldn't be considered a weekend.
In any case, I missed my flight due to unusual issues with the Piccadilly line. Unusual, because of all the lines, that one's thought to be the most reliable, since it connects passengers to Heathrow airport. Yes, usually reliable, but not last Friday.
I left & gave myself what I considered to be ample time, as I checked in on-line and had my boarding pass & backpack ready. The only thing preventing me from leaving London was the security checkpoint. Easy, peasy I thought. Ahh, but times like those I was quickly reminded I lived in London.
Not that the same thing couldn't have happened in any other city with a decent metro system, but at least there are more lines available in New York. Or, the taxicabs don't charge exorbitant fees for a 15-minute commute. I mention the latter, because I couldn't stand being delayed any further on the Piccadilly and attempted to catch a cab to the airport. The commute should've been no more than 20 - 25 minutes and yet the cabbie quoted me £45 - £50! Absurd!
Sooo, with no other train line that would take me to Heathrow, I didn't have any options left; I knew I would miss my flight.
I phoned up one of my closest friends, who just happens to live here as well - yea! Her flatmate graciously & patiently offered his computer, so I could scrounge around for a ticket. See, the one I had was non-refundable and I couldn't even get a credit towards a new purchase, even though I phoned before I missed my flight.
This is where I will once again applaud American Airlines. While it's true that non-refundable means the same across the board, customer service is something that is of a higher standard with AA. It's not even an American vs British standard, as I tried to negotiate with both KLM & Northwest.
Ok, so if this scenario happened with an AA flight, *if* there were a flight with the same rate as the one I purchased, I would've had to pay a change fee and make my way to the airport. No muss, no fuss. Chances are, my seat was given to someone when I didn't show, so the airline didn't lose money.
I won't make too much of this, as I could drone on & on about my dissatisfaction with KLM/NWA's customer service. However, to be fair, I must applaud the few people who offered me smiles, even on the phone, and considerable knowledge & courtesy. The results were the same - no ticket & no flight, but a little courtesy, rather than disrespect, goes a long way with me.
Nevertheless, I purchased another ticket for a flight that left at 6:35 am. I really wanted to just get on with my mini-break, as I was about to have a mini-breakdown. Long story short, the Underground doesn't run until about 5:30 am or so. Guess what that meant? I had to take a minicab. It cost me almost £20 for a less than 30-minute ride, but the driver was very nice and his spirit was calming; he helped my nerves.
I'll have to save my Amsterdam-in-a-day re-cap for another entry, but suffice it to say that I had an AMAZING time. The Dutch are very hospitable, generous and generally good-natured, even when they heard my "American" accent.
I'll also save my departure that almost wasn't from Amsterdam story for another entry. Whew! Who knew so much could & couldn't happen in 3 days? Oh, yeah, this is my life & that's the story of it.
Surprisingly, I still have some brain left, though the rest has oozed out of my ears due to a job with no workload. To celebrate that oozy, earwax feeling, I made my "currently reading" selection. The website is a daily must-read, but so are the books.
Until next time.
Peace,
Moi 
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| | Posted 9/26/2007 4:38 AM - 12 views - 0 comments
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